By Rachel R.,Teen Librarian
The 6th HEPL Teen Writing Challenge has concluded and 3 winners were chosen from the teen entries.
The Teen Writing Challenge was the idea of a student who shared it with the library’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB). The TAB loved the suggestion and felt it was a great opportunity for teen writers to share their creative writing. The Teen Writing Challenge was born!
For the Spring 2024 Teen Writing Challenge, teens were challenged to write an original, science fiction themed short story.
A panel of 11 judges made up of HEPL staff and teen volunteers on the Teen Advisory Board read through each short story and voted for their top three submissions based on the guidelines of the contest. This was no easy task, as the teens’ entries were all so creative and impressive! Every submission had multiple votes by the time the judging period ended.
It was a close competition with a tie for 3rd place, but the judges’ votes were tallied and the winners are…
1st Place: “Caught Adrift” by Theodore Emerson – Grade 12, Homeschool
2nd Place: “To Virus or Not to Virus” by Kylie Croteau – Grade 9, Fishers High School
3rd Place (Tie): “Destinyborn” by Lucy Waterman – Grade 10, Homeschool
3rd Place (Tie): “Untitled” by Katherine Fait – Grade 11, Saint Theodore Guerin Catholic High School
Each winner was able to choose a gift card from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, or Dunkin’. Congratulations to our winners!
I am extremely grateful to all the teen authors who entered their work for this contest. Writing can be very personal, and it takes bravery to share it with others. Thank you for letting us read your stories! Many of the judges commented on how much they enjoyed reading the different stories; from the emotional angst to the excellent writing to the impressive creativity. Whether your story won or not this time, I hope you all will continue to write and share your talent in future writing contests!